


Atlas and Copernicus

by charcoalmink



Category: Motorcity
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-02
Updated: 2012-08-02
Packaged: 2017-11-11 07:19:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/476007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charcoalmink/pseuds/charcoalmink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Family is born, not made.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Atlas and Copernicus

He loves Julie. Julie is his _world._ It’s as effortless as breathing, as functioning.

But Chilton-- his affection for the cadet buds. It’s not quite an exercise in patience, but it’s not quite so easy either. His love for Chilton is a cautious, tentative thing that has to be cultivated. Kane is not a generous man and he doesn’t dole out affection easily.

\---

Julie is smart. She’s brighter than many of his paid workers and his pride for her blossoms. It’s easy, _so easy_ , to tell her she’s perfect, she’s good, she’s so, so good.

But Chilton is brilliant. Kane watches him claw his way to the top like a drowning man, gulping for air and recognition. He’s smeared with burgeoning independence and the stench of overconfidence comes off him in waves.

But Chilton also strives to please. He tries so hard that Kane can’t help but take notice. So Kane tests. He prods and he pokes and he makes things difficult for the cadet. He makes it hard to succeed and yet Chilton does.

He doesn’t quite tell Mike that’s he’s perfect or good or even mediocre. He nods to the cadet in acknowledgment and he sees the boy _swell_. It’s like a drug, like some terrible hit that makes Chilton blaze.

So Kane stokes the fire, spark by spark and watches it burn.

\---

He had never wanted a son after Julie. She was-- _is--_ his everything. She stretches her fingers to him and he meets her halfway. She smiles for him, quick and sharp and his heart aches. He wants to cocoon her, to protect her, to seal her away for no one but himself. He wants her safe and he wants her by his side.

But Mike, _Mike_.

He wants to put Mike on display. He wants to place the boy on a pedestal and boast to the world. He wants to show him off, to flaunt this-- _his_ \-- perfect child to anyone that will look. He covets Mike like he covets his company, his creations. He wants Mike for himself but in a much different way than he wants Julie.

\---

Losing Julie is like watching his world crumble. She grows distant and a piece of the sky turns to ash. He wants to chase her, but he has responsibilities. He has promises and he has goals and he has convictions. He’s losing Julie and watching the space around him become rubble. 

But he’s already lost something; something vital. He’s already lost an organ, maybe a lung, and he can’t survive a dying world without air to breathe.

\---

It’s not hard to love Julie. Julie is his world. 

And Mike-- he makes sure he’s Mike’s. 


End file.
